


specter

by Alley_Walk (AlleyWalk_writes)



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: AU, Blood and Gore, F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M, Multi, No Bashing, No beta we die like illiterates, Platonic Romance, Queerplatonic Relationships, Sam and Valerie be SO BAMF, The Author Regrets Nothing, Trans Danny Fenton, everyone has one (1) ghost power, ghost hunger, giving the A-Listers a chance without ignoring their flaws, the GIW are bastards, this is def not canon-typical violence jsyk, veers sharply AU during Claw of the Wild
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-27
Updated: 2020-06-27
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:15:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24942937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlleyWalk_writes/pseuds/Alley_Walk
Summary: "Dash stood, holding out his hand as a glowing green ectoblast formed in his palm.And Dash grinned."Ever since The Accident, Danny has been anything but normal. But when the students of Casper High are all infected with a ghost virus, he finds he's not the only one that's abnormal anymore. And with The Guys In White putting new government mandates in place, his classmates breathing down his neck, and a hoard–okaay,hordeof mysterious ghost dragons after his tail, it's going to take all he's got to keep his secret under wraps.
Relationships: Cujo/love and hugs, Danny Fenton & Mr. Lancer, Danny Fenton & Tucker Foley & Sam Manson & Valerie Gray, Danny Fenton/Sam Manson/Tucker Foley/Valerie Gray, Dash Baxter & Kwan & Paulina Sanchez & Star, Dash Baxter/Kwan, Jack Fenton/Maddie Fenton, Paulina Sanchez/Star, Valerie Gray/Danielle "Dani" Phantom (queerplatonic)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 34





	specter

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, y'all!
> 
> So, a few notes before we begin...
> 
> This chapter takes place during that field trip episode, Claw of the Wild, and in this AU, things happened a bit differently in the ghost powers hospital episode. You'll see what I mean (tho you can probably guess from the tags).
> 
> I'm also trying to do something a bit different with the cast of DP side characters. I've seen some pretty interesting things done with the cast, but I wanted to do something different, and really flesh them out, giving the characters a chance while not ignoring their (numerous) flaws. The DP fic "Stay" is a good example of this, with fleshed out and unique backstories for each character and relationships that feel real to the reader. I can only hope to do so well.
> 
> Anyway, triggerwarning wise there's some gore, injury, violence, and vomiting (that is very, very, vague), but I think that's about it! ^_^

spec·ter

_ /ˈspektər/ _

1\. a ghostly apparition

2\. a state or cause of gloom, suspicion, trouble, or worry

3\. a weak or inferior remnant or version of something

* * *

Danny awoke to his ghost sense going off, a chunk of dry ice forcing its way down his throat, chilling him deep into his bones. Danny vaulted himself out of bed just as something slammed hard against the outside of the cabin door. His eyes widened and he whirled around. “Everyone wake up! There’s a ghost outside the door!” Danny yelled. In the darkness Tucker lifted his head up and blinked groggily at him, and he saw the moment he registered his words, jumping out of bed in nothing but his pajamas and fumbling in the darkness until he found his glasses, slipping them on to unzip his backpack and place a wristray around his wrist. 

“Is this some kinda joke, Fenton?” Dash asked, not making a move to get up out of bed.

Just then there was another loud thud against the door, something scraping against its surface and leaving a dent in the wood. Dash cursed, stumbling out of bed with the covers trailing out behind him. Dash seemed to notice the wristray because he eyed it appraisingly. “You got another one of those?”

“You know how to shoot?” 

Dash scowled, his answer obvious in his silence.

Danny’s senses prickled just as something green with too many eyes phased through the wall and leapt towards Dash’s exposed back. Tucker raised his wristray and shot at it, making it scream in pain and rage as green ectoplasm bubbled from the wound. A giant rabbit with salivating teeth and blank black eyes phased through the wall, and now there were two ghosts, and now three. Danny searched in Tucker’s bag for a wristray, but of course there wasn’t one. They’d only packed two. The other was with Sam.

He needed to do  _ something _ . He couldn't just stand here and do nothing! His cold core hummed at him in agreement, thrumming with the need to fight, to protect.

A giant rat leapt forward and Tucker rolled expertly out of the way, firing as he went. This left an opening for a two headed snake to lunge towards Dash, who froze, terrified. Danny pushed him out of the way, the ghost snake’s fangs bared as it plunged towards him. Then the window adjacent to Danny shattered inwards, and Sam and Valerie leapt into the room, Sam landing gracefully on her feet in front of him as her purple ecto shield bloomed outwards from her palms, the snake’s glowing white head bouncing harmlessly off while Valerie fired weapon after weapon. 

Slinging a gun that she definitely hadn’t had before over her shoulder, Sam smirked at them. “Hey, boys. We figured you could use a little help.”

* * *

They managed to gather some more teens from other cabins, consisting of Star, Paulina, Kwan, Mikey and Wes. They met up in Sam and Valerie’s cabin, where a temporary ghost shield had been erected. Danny felt a bit of resistance before he entered the shield, like he always did ever since the whole school had been infected with ghost bugs. Everyone else must have had the same problem judging by the flummoxed look on Dash’s face. Or maybe that’s just his default expression. Danny could never be too sure.

They all sat on the two opposing beds, the A-Listers sitting on one bed while Danny, Sam, Tucker, Valerie, and Mikey sat on the other, Wes sitting on the floor with his back leaning against Danny’s legs, the lamplight illuminating most of the room while casting the rest of it in dark shadows. Danny shook his head. It was all so stupid. They were all in danger from a bunch of rabid ghosts and yet here they were posturing and arguing about who was on top. Danny certainly had no excuse. But neither did they.

They just rubbed him the wrong way, like an itch he couldn't scratch. Especially Dash. He got under his skin, and he was pretty sure he was terminally allergic to him in some way.

Focus, Fenton.

“Dash, what should we do?” Paulina asked.

“Why don’t we ask them? They’re the ghost hunters.” Star pointed out, sneaking a look at Valerie before quickly turning away. Valerie's jaw hardened, and she refused to even set eyes on the blonde haired girl. Weren't those two friends a while back? He guessed that Star had dropped Valerie in order to join the A-Listers. It was too bad. They had seemed close. 

Dash scowled and crossed his arms in front of his chest, forearms flexing as he clenched his fists. He seemed to chew over something before he said, “Hey, Foley. Could you do the same thing for us that you did for Sam?” He tapped the metal bracelet around his wrist pointedly, and Star looked down at hers in confusion.

“What do you mean?”

“Sam used her powers and saved Fenton’s ass back there.” His eyes moved to Sam, and he rubbed the back of his neck and looked away. “And mine, too.” He admitted, a sort of surly admiration in his voice, which surprised Danny coming from the football star.

“You’re saying this…  _ loser _ can deactivate the bracelet’s nullification effects?” Paulina asked, gesturing towards Tucker.

“Hey, I resent that remark!” Tucker said, trying to lighten the mood. Danny knew from experience that the remark still stung, so he bumped his elbow against Tucker’s with a small smile. Tucker’s lips quirked up, and Danny could almost hear the appreciative  _ ‘thanks, dude,’  _ that would have come from him if it was only the four of them.

Sam smiled at them both before becoming more serious. “That’s actually not a bad idea. Danny? Valerie? What do you think?”

“It’s certainly not the stupidest idea I’ve ever heard, And coming from these two, I’ve seen some pretty stupid ideas.” Valerie said, giving Danny one of her Bruising Side Elbows™ that she’s done pretty much ever since she found out he was Phantom and which he’s 99% sure is just habit for her by now. That and her suit giving her super strength. 

Danny winced and then nodded. “It has some drawbacks, though.” Pausing, he took a deep breath and then met Dash’s eyes. All of the A-Listers bristled, but Danny didn’t waver. “I need all of you to promise not to tell anyone that Tucker can hack into the Guys In White’s tech.”

“Oh yeah, and why should we?!” Dash argued, and all the A-Listers seemed to be in agreement.

“Because… because then Tucker couldn’t disable it anymore or give you access to your powers whenever you wanted.” Sam stipulated.

Dash sat back and looked at Tucker. “You’d do that, Foley?”

“It would be, like, super nice to fly again.” Paulina said wistfully.

“It would be nice to  _ make _ things fly again,” Star said, and the two girls grinned at each other.

“I don’t get why you don’t just transform into Phantom.” Wes said as he tipped his head back to look at Danny upside down, ashy blond hair brushing against Danny’s ghost pajama’d knees as his green eyes seemed to pierce right through him.

Danny’s breath stuttered for a moment before he took a deep breath. “Not that again, Wes.” He said, laughing weakly as he looked at the ones Not In The Know for their reactions. Dash gave a groan and rolled his eyes while Paulina huffed and flipped her hair over her shoulder, obviously skeptical. Mikey chewed on his lip anxiously with tears in his eyes while Tucker rubbed his back soothingly, not caring one way or the other. Kwan frowned at Wes disapprovingly, but Star looked Danny up and down, studying his face while never quite meeting his eyes. Uh-oh, not good. If one of the A-Listers got it into their heads that he was Phantom, there's no telling what would happen. 

Kwan frowned at them all. “Are you guys sure we should even use our powers? What if we get caught?”

There was a meaty sizzle and a cacophony of animalistic screeches, the sharp smell of burnt ectoplasm hitting Danny’s nose. “I think we have bigger concerns.” Valerie said grimly.

“Wouldn’t it be better if we just stayed in here where it’s safe?” Paulina asked.

Valerie shook her head. “The shield generator only has so much power. It’s already running pretty low.” 

Unease rippled through the A-Listers, and Mikey sniffled, covering his face with his hands. Wes, however, grinned. “I’ll do it! It sounds like fun.”

Dash snorted, shaking his head. “You’re insane. But I’m in.”

Star shrugged. “Can’t be worse than staying in here.”

The others quickly agreed and Tucker took out his PDA and hooked it up to Dash’s bracelet, typing at lightning speed as code scrawled across the screen. With a smug look Tucker unhooked his PDA from Dash’s bracelet. “Alright, you’re good to go!” Dash stood as Tucker moved quickly onto Star’s bracelet, holding out his hand as a glowing green ectoblast formed in his palm.

And Dash grinned.

* * *

Considering the current circumstances, Danny really didn’t have much to work with. Pretty much everyone in Casper High gained some sort of ghostly ability due to the ghost bug incident, (as it turns out ghosts masquerading as doctors don’t really do the trick, and while most of the symptoms had faded over time, the Spectra incident that was involved really didn’t help their case when it came to the Guys In White), so it wouldn’t be unusual for Danny to have one too. Wanting to keep up the usual act that he had going on at school, Danny chose to advertise his intangibility, which he was now currently regretting with all of his afterlife.

With Wes and Star already suspicious of him, 'Danny Fenton' couldn't afford to disappear mid-battle only for Danny  _ Phantom _ to miraculously appear to save the day. Coincidences like that don't happen often, and if it happens enough times people might start to take notice. Especially now that it was confirmed that human and ghost DNA could coexist. Judging by the grim looks shared by Tucker and Sam, they knew this as well. 

He managed to wrangle an ecto gun out of a reluctant Valerie, the blaster sitting snug in his palm. They stepped forward, united as they faced the horde. Valerie fired two torpedoes that sent huge explosions into the mass of ghosts, sending the animals scattering. Three Kwans charged at the ghosts, kicking and punching with abandon. Dash sent ectoblast after ectoblast flying towards the ghosts, Paulina diving on them like an avenging angel from above. Star flung them into the air with a thought before slamming them hard into the ground, Tucker's fire devouring the ghosts and spreading wildly around them. Sam formed her shield into a spear as it surged forward and stabbed a ghost in the eye and through the brain, ectoplasm spurting from the wound. Mikey was a surprisingly good shot when he overcame his fear, especially when he was invisible and the only way to locate him was through stray ectoblasts that came from nowhere.

Danny shot a nearby ghost feline in the eye, making it yowl in pain and retreat. Senses prickling, he ducked into a roll just as a giant wolf leapt to take his head off of his shoulders, his roll taking him directly underneath its belly. With no one to see him, Danny charged up a high powered ectoblast in his palm and shot it at the wolf's underbelly, the shot connecting as green ectoplasm sprayed across his face, blinding him as he rolled to his feet out from under the wolf's belly. He could hear a deep, rumbling growl behind him and turned himself intangible just in time for a coyote with horns to try to pounce on him from behind. 

A whoosh sounded behind him as one of Val's torpedoes came his way. He turned himself intangible just in time for Val's torpedo to turn several of the ghosts around him to nothing but splatters of ectoplasmic goop on the forest floor.

Danny felt sick.

But there was no thermos for a quick and easy battle. Danny wouldn't go all out like Valerie but he sure wouldn't hold back. Danny suddenly saw a bloodied but not too injured Star not too far from him, giving Paulina cover in the air as she swooped down on unsuspecting ghosts, a vengeful smile on her face with blood dripping from her brow. A bear with glowing green tentacles reached for Star, and Danny leapt to her defense, ecto gun firing directly into its eye.

The bear took a swipe at him and Danny jumped back, panting with effort as he wiped sweat out of his eyes. "Hah… yeah, I bet you'd... hah… really enjoy taking a piece out of me."

The bear roared.

_ Yeah, I wasn't really expecting a response on that one. _

Lining up his shot, Danny fired. He aimed for a key ectoplasmic nerve centered on its elbow and hit dead on. Ectoplasm sprayed as the bear roared in pain and its forearm fell to its side, limp. Pained and angry eyes flicked towards Danny, and without warning a tentacle lashed out lightning quick to seize Danny's right wrist, Danny struggling not to fire the weapon as his wrist ached and burned. A second later there was a loud  _ crack! _ and Danny was forced to drop the weapon as fire bloomed up and down his wrist. The bear quickly put any hopes of retrieving it to waste, smashing it to pieces on the ground.

Danny's mind worked frantically. What does he have? What can he use?

Unfortunately for him, he didn't have much time to find out.

The ghost lunged forward, jaws slavering as its great paw lashed out towards his head and its tentacles eeled towards him. Mind racing, Danny stepped forward, ignoring Paulina's warning shout as he ducked his head under the slash of claws at the knick of time, letting tentacles wrap painfully tight around his abdomen before he stuck an intangible hand into the ghost’s chest and gripped it by the core. The bear stilled beneath his palms, and Danny breathed in the scent of ghost and fear. 

He  _ hungered _ . 

Then, he d̵̡̢̙͐̾͒e̵͙͍̓̈́͑v̸͕͇̽̕ö̴͓͔͎́͝u̵̼̺͑̚r̸̢͖͎̿͆e̵̢̢͖̓̐d̸͍̔̕͜͜͝. 

The ghost’s body dissolved underneath his hands, green goop splattering over his arms and chest. He closed his eyes, tasting honey on his tongue. It was a bear, of course it was obsessed with honey. Danny didn’t know why he was expecting something more meaningful than that. His throat felt tight and his eyes stung, but he pushed it down and away, away. He turned and glared at Star, his eyes burning. “Pay more attention to your surroundings, will you?”

Star stared at him for a moment, her eyes wide, before nodding with a determined expression on her face. “Yes, of course.” She turned and proceeded to do just that.    
  
They finally fought their way to their goal: the school bus. Valerie quickly set down the ghost shield generator and activated it, forcing the horde of ghosts back away from the bus with a wide glowing green halo that grew and expanded around them.

“Wes!” Danny called.

Wes nodded seriously. “You got it, Phantom. ALL STUDENTS, THE CAMP IS CURRENTLY UNDER ATTACK BY GHOSTS. PLEASE MAKE YOUR WAY OUT OF YOUR CABINS IN A CALM AND ORDERLY FASHION. THERE WILL BE SUPERPOWERED STUDENTS WAITING THERE TO ASSIST YOU. THIS IS NOT A DRILL. I REPEAT-!” Instead of waiting to hear more of Wes’s speel–Danny thought he was enjoying being their personal loudspeaker far too much–Danny left the dubious safety of the ghost shield with the other students to round up everyone else. 

* * *

James T. Lancer held his sister’s thin shoulders as she vomited into a bucket, the hospital room’s artificial lighting reflecting off of her bare scalp.

“I really hate this.” Jade said with a laugh.

James nodded. “Me too. But it’ll be alright, Jade.”

Jade nodded with a smile, though her eyes seemed sad. “Yeah, it will.”

Mr Lancer woke up with a gasp, turning his head into his pillow as something that was definitely  _ not _ tears leaked from his eyes. After getting ahold of himself, Mr Lancer snapped to attention as his ears picked up the amplified warning of Mr Weston. He quickly swung his legs out of bed and got to his feet, slipping his bare feet into his shoes while he looked around for something he could use as a makeshift weapon. His eyes landed on the chair and desk in the corner of the room. With force and a little bit of leverage, a metal table leg came into Mr Lancer’s possession. His back complained loudly at the movement, and he winced, rubbing it to ease some of the pain.

There came a sudden pounding at his door, and a familiar teenager’s voice said, “Mr Lancer, it’s me, Danny!”

Mr Lancer felt relief wash over him. At least one of the children was safe. And this one would most likely know more about what was going on than any of the others. But still… “Prove you’re the real Danny.”

“We really don’t have time for this.” He thought he heard Danny mutter from outside the door. "Look, will you at least let me in?"

Eyeing the door warily, Mr Lancer deliberated for a moment before he nodded to himself, striding forward and lifting his table leg high as he swung open the door. Mr Fenton openly gaped at his appearance, and something like admiration shone in his eyes as he took in Mr Lancer's battle ready stance. Mr Lancer's suspicions about his student being possessed melted away, (as it was such a common occurrence in Amity by now that when there was a ghost attack it was always better to be safe than sorry), amusement taking its place, such a teenage reaction being quite frankly irrefutable. Sobering, he looked at Mr Fenton seriously. “What’s it like out there?”

Mr Fenton, still a bit thrown, took a calming breath, looking down at his socked feet before meeting Mr Lancer’s eyes. His eyes were hard and his face determined, and the expression froze Mr Lancer for a moment out of pure surprise. He’d seen that expression before, but only rarely. It once came from his grandmother. She’d been a navy pilot in WWII, and had never forgotten what she’d done there. That war torn gaze, hardened by battle and the suffering of others, should never belong on a teenager’s face. 

But then the expression melted away as if it never was, and Mr Fenton cracked a smile. “Well, it’s a wild night for sure.” His eyes flicked around, surveying the area in a way that Mr Lancer had become uncomfortably familiar with in his observations of Mr Fenton. 

Finally, he turned his attention back to Mr Lancer with a reassuring smile. “Take my hand. I’ll turn us both intangible so that neither of us can be hurt by the ghosts, okay?” Mr Fenton shifted to Mr Lancer’s other side, which had him narrowing his eyes as he clocked Daniel’s right wrist, which had lacerations which wept and bled as well as two rulers placed on each side of his arm with duct tape wrapped around it, splinting his wrist.

“You’re hurt, you should rest after this.” Mr Lancer said, taking Daniel’s other hand as a cold tingle swept over him, a shiver running down his spine as the hairs on his neck stood up. Pushing down his initial reaction–his students couldn’t help how their ghostly abilities made him feel, made  _ all _ humans feel, and it would be rude and unfair to hold it against any one of them–he started forward, Daniel tugging on his hand as he turned to take the lead. 

Daniel shrugged and cracked a grin. “Well, you know what they say. Duct tape fixes everything.” He said, waggling his fingers. Despite himself, Mr Lancer snorted.

Curious, Mr Lancer asked, “So, how are you using your powers right now? I assume the other students are doing so as well.”

Mr Fenton suddenly looked evasive, eyes flicking away from him. Then a green blur came barreling towards them. Mr Lancer blanched, but Daniel tightened his hold on his hand to a painful degree just as the ghost fell right through them, icy cold tingles making their way across Mr Lancer’s body where it had passed through. 

Mr Lancer let out a relieved breath. “We keep walking?”

Daniel smiled at him. “Pretty much.” As they walked Mr Lancer looked around, the full moon overhead illuminating the other cabins where the students were all hurrying with escorts towards a shining green ectoshield, the school bus sheltered underneath it. Mr Lancer would praise his student’s forethought and ingenuity under different circumstances. As it was, a very large part of Mr Lancer–the part that wanted to protect his students, guide them and keep them from harm and didn’t give a fig if they had ghost powers or three heads that spoke nothing but gobbledygook–wanted his students as far away from these ghosts as possible, to never have to fight them at all, ghost powers or not. For him to be able to defend them instead. But he knew that was foolish. He was an overweight man in his mid-forties with a misbehaving knee that liked to give out on him and a bad back that liked to file complaints to his neural compartment at the worst of times. He could barely  _ run _ from ghosts, let alone fight them. 

Shaking his head, he blinked as Daniel looked at him, biting his lip with a furrow in his brow. “I- er,  _ we _ , would really appreciate it if you didn’t tell anyone about us using our ghost powers.”

Mr Lancer snorted. “I’m not an idiot, Daniel.” The boy looked sheepish, so Mr Lancer asked, “Do you have any clue as to why this is happening?”

Daniel frowned. “I have some idea, yeah.” Mr Lancer raised an eyebrow, trying not to let his heart leap as the ghost tiger leaped through them once more with a furious roar. Daniel looked away, not meeting his eyes. “Well, all ghosts have this to a certain extent, but animal ghosts in particular have a sort of instinctual hunger… or ghost hunger I guess.” He chuckled. “I-It’s, uh, mostly centered around other ghosts, but that can change during the full moon.” He used his free hand to gesture to the full moon shining from above.

Mr Lancer swallowed, a shiver of fear trailing down his spine. He shoved it away to deal with later, when his students weren’t in danger, and said, “Well that certainly wasn’t what I expected.”

They eventually make it past the shields, to Mr Lancer’s relief, and he and Ms Tetslaff immediately start doing a headcount as more and more students file in. “Is that the last one?” Ms. Tetslaff asked.

“I believe so, yes.” Mr Lancer said. 

Ms Tetslaff clambered up into the driver’s seat. Luckily she’d had the keys. “Alright everyone, climb in! C’mon, move it or lose it, people!” The students hurried onto the bus, Mr Weston commanding in an ear splitting shout, “EVERYONE PLEASE MAKE YOUR WAY ONTO THE BUS IN A CALM AND ORDERLY LINE.” Mr Lancer just shook his head, because while it made the students crabby it at least made the panic die down as their ire centered around Mr Weston. When everyone but Ms Gray was on the bus, Mr Lancer waited until she had deactivated the ghost shield and then ducked inside, sliding into the front seat near Ms Tetslaff, Ms Gray sliding in beside Ms Manson and climbing over her to reach the window, Ms Manson moving easily to accommodate her as both her and Ms Gray peered out the windows, both with ecto gun in hand. Mr Fenton and Mr Foley were each situated near the middle and back of the bus, sharp eyed as they took in the area, ecto weapons at the ready. Mr Lancer was reminded once again of war veterans, traversing a battlefield a battlefield known by heart, burned into memory by harsh exposure. Before he could think more on it, Ms Tetslaff hit the gas, the bus jerking into motion with the smell of burning rubber and the screech of the tires on the asphalt as they screamed their way out of there.

There was a sigh of relief from Mr Lua, his asian features crumpling as tears dripped from his eyes before he brought up his hands to cover his face, Mr Baxter putting his hand on his shoulder with a soft, “hey, man.” Ms Sanchez groaned in pain, holding her head with blood and ectoplasm matted in her hair, swallowing hard in the way of someone who will probably throw up soon. Ms Denkworth rubbed her back, making soothing noises as she looked around anxiously. A few aisles away, Mr Marsh cried while Mr Lester tried to soothe him. Mr Lancer was just about to find a trash can and a first aid kit for Ms Sanchez when something crashed hard into the side of the bus, the metal screeching, denting inwards. Everyone screamed as Ms Tetslaff hit the breaks with a curse and the bus tipped dangerously sideways. Ms Gray grunted as she shattered a window with her elbow and began firing, the screams of something distinctly inhuman reaching his ears. Ms Manson stood. “Don’t just leave us sitting here! DRIVE!” 

The bus lurched forward again, and Mr Lancer hit his head on the window as he watched Ms Gray’s ectoblasts keep the ghost at bay. He groaned. "If we all get out of this alive you're all getting straight A's on your report cards."

There was a moment of silence.

“This field trip was great.” Mr Weston said.

Mr Lancer groaned again.

**Author's Note:**

> Wes is so precious. ^^
> 
> Comments?
> 
> Kudos?
> 
> See y'all next chapter! ^_^


End file.
